"Benzo Weekend" Flare Breaker

[webslave]

I heard this from an expert, so I want to pass it on to you all. I take no responsibility for this and you do it at your own risk. You must speak to your doctor before taking any prescription medications.

A flare breaker strategy that can be very effective is to have a "benzo weekend", which consists of:

• 2.5mg Valium Saturday and 2.5 mg Sunday
• 2 long hot baths a day (not too hot, not too long)
• Listening to very relaxing music
• Massage of the body generally (if you can arrange it, perhaps from spouse)

The whole point is to quiet the autonomic nervous arousal in your body. I have heard it can effectively break flares for some.

[norprost]

Interesting, I did almost the same last Sunday. Took 5 mg medazepamum, hot bath, my wife massaged my back and legs while listened to Oliver Shanti's relaxing cd, had a good lunch together and I felt quite O.K. all day. Then Monday came, work, driving in a crowded city and symptoms and anxiety appeared again. Now I can hardly concentrate on my work but wait for the weekend!


Norprost

[webslave]

Note: valium is apparently the best benzo for this task.

[latte]

My experience is that chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome is definitely stress related. I have taken a few valium/flexorils over the last couple years and they seem to help in the short term. Over Christmas I had two weeks off and felt much better but then back to work/sitting a lot/fighting traffic, I could tell right away that my painfree time was over for awhile. Still much better than a two years ago but it nags me and wears me out. I'll do more meditation and relaxation, seems to help.

[Richard.N]

I had two weeks off and felt much better but then back to work/sitting a lot/fighting traffic, I could tell right away that my pain-free time was over for awhile

So true! I quit my job about a month ago and I haven't done a jot of work since. Funnily, using my PC at home hasn't brought on a return to the norm but meetings with recruitment consultants do (I hate 'em!). Bizarrely, actual interviews don't increase the symptoms. Presumably too occupied with lying.

Ah well, I'll have to go back to work eventually (although I'm now doing the lottery twice a week), but hopefully this career break will get some healing done.

[Caedar]

One possible explanation for benzodiazepines reducing pain besides their general action on the central nervous system is that they can affect the secretion of il-8 from mast cells. Il-8 has been identified as a possible biomarker for chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome (http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16643489). Perhaps some benzos reduce inflammation in the pelvic region?

Inhibitory effects of benzodiazepines on the adenosine A(2B) receptor mediated secretion of interleukin-8 in human mast cells.

Abstract
The activation of adenosine A(2B) receptors in human mast cells causes pro-inflammatory responses such as the secretion of interleukin-8. There is evidence for an inhibitory effect of benzodiazepines on mast cell mediated symptoms in patients with systemic mast cell activation disease. Therefore, we investigated the effects of benzodiazepines on adenosine A(2B) receptor mediated interleukin-8 production in human mast cell leukaemia (HMC1) cells by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The adenosine analogue N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA, 0.3-3 μM) increased interleukin-8 production about 5-fold above baseline. This effect was attenuated by the adenosine A(2B) receptor antagonist MRS1754 (N-(4-cyanophenyl)-2-{4-(2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-2,6-dioxo-1,3-dipropyl-1H-purin-8-yl)phenoxy}-acetamide) 1 μM. In addition, diazepam, 4'-chlorodiazepam and flunitrazepam (1-30 μM) markedly reduced NECA-induced interleukin-8 production in that order of potency, whereas clonazepam showed only a modest inhibition. The inhibitory effect of diazepam was not altered by flumazenil 10 μM or PK11195 (1-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methylpropyl)-3-isoquinolinecarboxamide) 10 μM. Diazepam attenuated the NECA-induced expression of mRNA encoding for interleukin-8. Moreover, diazepam and flunitrazepam reduced the increasing effects of NECA on cAMP-response element- and nuclear factor of activated t-cells-driven luciferase reporter gene activities in HMC1 cells. Neither diazepam nor flunitrazepam affected NECA-induced increases in cellular cAMP levels in CHO Flp-In cells stably expressing recombinant human adenosine A(2B) receptors, excluding a direct action of benzodiazepines on human adenosine A(2B) receptors. In conclusion, this is the first study showing an inhibitory action of benzodiazepines on adenosine A(2B) receptor mediated interleukin-8 production in human mast (HMC1) cells. The rank order of potency indicates the involvement of an atypical benzodiazepine binding site.

[Wolfcub]

IL-8 as a potential biomarker for chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome (especially for differentiating between IIIa and IIIb types) and other disorders/diseases:

Interleukin 8 (IL-8) is a promising marker for many clinical conditions and currently being applied by various subspecialties of medicine either for the purpose of rapid diagnosis or as a predictor of prognosis. Nevertheless, IL-8 level increased as a result of many inflammatory conditions, so careful interpretation of IL-8 level is required to make correlation with desired clinical condition's diagnosis or prognosis. A panel consisting of more then one biomarker including IL-8 will be promising diagnostic and prognostic approach for many clinical disorders. Nevertheless, large-scale studies are needed to substantiate the accuracy and outcome of IL-8's usefulness and effectiveness as a biomarker.

http://www.intarchmed.com/content/3/1/11

[webslave]

Very good catch, Caedar! It seems entirely logical that there is a biochemical link that goes beyond anxiety reduction.

This may apply not only to benzos, but also anesthetics and sedatives! A study found suppression of IL-8 by anesthetics and sedatives (propofol and midazolam). We have seen many posters here remark that, post surgery, their pain in suppressed for a period.

Background and extra comments:

Seminal plasma levels of IL-8 (a pro-inflammatory chemokine involved in inflammatory reactions) are higher in men with CP/CPPS than in controls, and the levels correlated with NIH-CPSI symptom scores in men with CP/CPPS.
http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16643489

But remember that IL-8 rises as a result of anything that causes inflammation including infection, e.g as seen in the mouse prostate)

For interest, acupuncture is supposed to be able to reduce IL-8 in men with CPPS:
http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21355145

And curcumin, injected into/around (deliberately) inflamed rat prostates, also lowers IL-8:
http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20180411

Extra note: I saw that Valium (diazepam) was one of the most potent of the benzos at reducing IL-8. Worth remembering....